


i'll be home for thanksgiving

by thestarsaretalking



Series: i think it's finally safe for me to fall [3]
Category: Space Force (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Meeting the Parents, Thanksgiving Dinner, ft tony's sad boy characterization
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26203981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thestarsaretalking/pseuds/thestarsaretalking
Summary: Tony and Chan go to Baltimore to celebrate Thanksgiving with Chan’s family and Tony finally learns what family means.
Relationships: Chan Kaifang & F. Tony Scarapiducci, Chan Kaifang/F. Tony Scarapiducci
Series: i think it's finally safe for me to fall [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1884013
Comments: 5
Kudos: 21





	i'll be home for thanksgiving

**Author's Note:**

> i would like to preface this by saying that the thanksgiving celebrated by chan’s family has a blend of typical american thanksgiving food as well as some traditional chinese dishes! im a chinese american and my family often celebrates thanksgiving in this blended style so i figured chan’s family would as well since they immigrated to the US from hong kong :) 
> 
> also! chan’s full name is listed as chan kaifang but the order of the name should be kaifang chan because in english the family name is the last name (i wish the show had an asian writer on the team to clarify this :/)
> 
> this fic is dedicated to my dear friend vanessa on twitter. thank you for helping me foster my connection to my cultural identity. i love u endlessly!

There were only a few times a year that people in the Space Force got to take time off work and Thanksgiving was one of those occasions. After Tony and Chan dated for about a year and a half, Chan decided that it was about time that his parents met Tony, so he and Tony traveled to Baltimore to celebrate Thanksgiving at his parents’ house. 

As Tony packed his clothing into a suitcase, he asked Chan, “So, is there anything I should know before meeting your parents?” 

Chan folded a shirt carefully and replied, “Well, they’re Asian so as long as you meet the standard Asian expectations, you should be fine.”  
  


“What exactly are the standard Asian expectations?” Tony questioned while grabbing a hoodie out from his side of the closet.

Pausing in the middle of packing, Chan listed, “Oh, you know, they expect you to have gone to a good college, been at the top of your class, studied a useful major, have good manners, respect your elders, and win a gold medal at the Olympics.” 

Tony’s face paled as panic seized him, but his expression of terror dropped when he realized that Chan was joking about the last part. “Wait a second, you’re pulling my leg, aren’t you? There’s no way your parents expect me to have won a gold medal at the Olympics.” 

“Yeah, that part was a lie but everything else still applies.” Hearing this, Tony stiffened again and Chan laughed, pressing a kiss to Tony’s cheek. “Don’t worry about it. You just need to be yourself and you’ll be fine. I’m sure my parents will love you.” 

The flight to Baltimore was tiring but rewarding. On the flight, Chan took a photo of Tony, who had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Tony looked too adorable with his messy hair and glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose for Chan to pass up on the opportunity to add another photo in his album of candid photos of his boyfriend. 

Later on during the flight, Chan decided to watch the movie Up and started crying during the first ten minutes of the film, accidentally waking up Tony from his peaceful slumber. Of course, Tony’s first reaction was to lightly tease Chan about crying over an animated movie but he wiped away Chan’s tears gently and hugged him to comfort him. 

When they arrived in Baltimore, it was already night time so they checked into the hotel and slept in so late that they woke up the next morning to find out that the hotel had stopped serving breakfast an hour before they woke up. 

Obviously, Tony was nervous about meeting Chan’s parents but he tried to follow Chan’s advice and relax. He had dressed in a simple button-down shirt, and he had considered wearing his glasses because he read an article on Buzzfeed about how wearing glasses makes one look smarter, but Chan reassured him that he didn’t need the glasses to make him look smart. 

When the couple arrived at the doorstep of Chan’s parents’ house, Chan gave Tony a sideways glance as he brought his finger close to the doorbell. “Are you ready?” 

“As ready as I’ll ever be!” Tony responded, trying not to let his boyfriend see that he was basically a bundle of nerves. 

Chan pressed the doorbell and there was a beat of silence before the door swung open. Chan’s mother had a wide smile on her face as she greeted, “Kaifang! Tony! Welcome, we are so happy to have you!”  
  


“Thank you, Mrs. Chan. It’s so nice to meet you,” Tony gave Chan’s mother a wide smile. 

Mrs. Chan grinned back and gestured for Tony and Chan to step inside the house. “Come in, come in. Please take your shoes off. The water for the tea is boiling so Kaifang can show you around the house while we wait.” 

She left to check on the water as Chan and Tony took their shoes off. As Tony took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack near the shoe rack, he remarked, “I’m not used to hearing people calling you Kaifang.” 

“Yeah, most people are used to calling me Chan because my first name is ‘too hard to pronounce.’” Chan made air quotes as he quoted the phrase he heard too often. He held out a hand and Tony took it, giving him an apologetic look as if he was trying to apologize for the racism Chan had to endure. Chan seemed to notice and simply shrugged, “It sucks but sadly, you get used to it. Anyway, let me show you to my old room.” 

As Chan led Tony to his old room, Tony quipped, “Well, if anybody says that to you again, I’ll beat them up. Metaphorically, of course. Wait, no, even better, I’ll destroy them on Twitter and make sure nobody ever follows their account again.” 

“I appreciate the gesture,” Chan gave Tony a small smile and opened up the door to his bedroom. Gasping in awe, Tony stepped into Chan’s room and looked around.

Chan’s old room was decorated with the nerdiest objects Tony had ever seen. On the wall next to the small twin-sized bed was a large poster that showed all known galaxies in the universe. On the desk, Papers were neatly stacked in a pile while the pens and pencils strewed across it. 

There was a bookshelf on the wall across from the bed that was full of manga, neatly ordered by the series names. On top of that bookshelf were boxes of pop figures, Lego sets, small trinkets, and a few small framed photos of Chan as a child. 

As Chan flopped down onto his bed, the bed springs squeaking, Tony picked up a photo of Chan as a toddler, holding a toy truck, and gushed, “Aww, Chan! You were such a tiny precious child!” 

Tony put the picture back and looked at Chan before commenting, “Actually, you’re still a tiny precious child.”

“Shut up,” Chan mumbled, a blush spreading across his face. In response, Tony simply laughed and walked over to Chan’s bed. He lied down on the small bed and wrapped an arm around Chan, bringing him closer.

As Tony gently tucked a strand lock of Chan’s hair behind Chan’s ear, he said, “Thank god we’re staying at a hotel and not in this bedroom. This bed is too small to fit both of us.” 

Chan hummed in agreement. The small twin-sized bed was definitely not big enough to have two grown men lie down on it. It was slightly cramped but neither Tony nor Chan made an effort to move. 

“Boys! The tea is ready!” 

Reluctantly getting up from the bed, Chan and Tony walked to the living room, where Chan’s mother had already poured the tea into cups. Chan’s father was sitting on the couch next to her and he gestured for the two boys to sit down on the other couch. 

As Tony picked up a cup of tea and sipped it carefully to avoid burning his tongue, Chan’s mother asked, “So, Tony, which college did you go to?” 

Chan glared at his mother, clearly upset that she was coming off so strongly, but Tony didn’t really seem to mind. “I went to NYU. Majored in Business.” 

“Not bad,” Chan’s mother nodded approvingly as she sipped her cup of tea before setting it down on the coffee table and standing up. “I’ll go prepare the turkey.”

After Chan’s mother left, Chan’s father interrogated Tony with a few more questions about his job, and Tony, thankfully, was able to give a good impression. During the exchange, Chan was nervous that Tony wouldn’t meet his dad’s expectations but when Chan saw Chan’s father smile after Tony talked about being on his high school debate team and winning an award. 

When the conversation started wrapping up, Chan suggested, “We should probably go to the kitchen to help Mom make the food.” 

Chan’s father agreed and as they stood up and walked to the kitchen, Tony leaned over to Chan and whispered, “Am I doing okay?”  
  


“You’re doing great,” Chan whispered back, giving Tony’s hand a tight squeeze before he and his father went to the other side of the kitchen to take care of the unattended turkey.

“Tony! Come help me make the shrimp dumplings,” called Chan’s mother and Tony walked over to her, watching her as she folded the dumpling skillfully. 

“Whoa, that’s so cool! How do you do that?” Tony exclaimed, marveling at how Chan’s mother was able to fold the creases so well. 

Appreciative of Tony’s enthusiasm, Chan’s mother smiled and instructed, “Wash your hands and I’ll show you how to make these.” 

Chan’s mother patiently taught Tony how to wrap the fillings of the shrimp dumpling, and after a few failed attempts, Tony managed to get the hang of wrapping the dumplings. His dumplings’ creases weren’t folded as neatly as those of Chan’s mother’s dumplings but they still held the dumpling together. Chan’s mother even taught Tony how to properly pronounce Har Gow, the name for shrimp dumplings.

As Chan watched his mother talk with Tony as they made dumplings together side by side, he felt proud to see his boyfriend getting along so well with his family. Chan’s father, who was standing next to him, saw Chan watching Tony and smiled, “I like Tony. He’s a nice guy. He seems very smart.” 

“I like him too,” Chan grinned back, as he watched Tony carefully place the shrimp dumplings onto a plate. 

Dinner went much more smoothly than Chan had anticipated. Chan’s parents were surprised that Tony knew how to use chopsticks. When Chan and Tony first started dating, Chan taught Tony how to use chopsticks and after months, Tony finally got the hang of using chopsticks. 

Tony was also willing to try out dishes that he had never tried before and he complimented Chan’s mother on her cooking skills. He really enjoyed the Mapo Tofu and asked Chan if he could make the dish for dinner more often. Chan’s parents really appreciated Tony’s eagerness to embrace new things and Chan’s mother seemed really glad that she could finally talk about cooking with somebody.

Chan was also glad that Tony didn’t question the way Thanksgiving was celebrated in the Chan household as he was slightly worried that his boyfriend would find it strange that his family ate both American and Chinese food for Thanksgiving, but Tony seemed to love the diversity of the dishes. 

At one point during dinner, Tony leaned forward and asked, “So, do you guys have any embarrassing stories of Chan as a child?” 

“We have a lot. You know, when Kaifang was a child, he was very scared of the dark. So when we took him to the movie theatre for the first time and the lights turned off, he ran out of the movie theatre before the film even started,” Chan’s father recalled amusedly and Chan’s mother nodded in agreement as she picked up a shrimp dumpling with her chopsticks. 

“Mom!” Chan exclaimed, putting his chopsticks down on the table next to his bowl of rice and covering his hands to hide his conspicuous mortification, and Tony cackled. 

“That’s so weird because Chan loves horror movies! I can’t believe that he’s not scared of zombies but he was scared of the dark,” Tony teased. Chan elbowed his boyfriend playfully before hiding his face in his hands again.

“I’m not proud of my past, okay?” Chan mumbled as Tony wrapped an arm around his shoulders.  
  


As Tony and his parents exchanged embarrassing stories, Chan had never felt more grateful to be surrounded by the people he loved. 

~

The day after Thanksgiving, Chan took Tony around Baltimore to show him some of the places he visited as a teenager. They walked by Chan’s old high school together and Tony remarked that it looked an awful lot like a prison (to which Chan responded with “It basically was”). They also visited a bakery that Chan used to buy pastries from and ate the pastries as they walked across the city with their hands intertwined.

The last stop was a small playground. Tony was confused as to why Chan had brought him to a playground and asked, “Chan, baby, why are we at a playground?” 

“I used to spend a lot of time here when my family first moved here. C’mon, let’s go sit on the swings.” Chan tugged Tony forward and led him to the swings. They sat side by side on the swings, watching as the sun started slowly descending into the horizon and the sky turned into layers of breathtaking colors. 

Tony felt oddly at peace and momentarily forgot where he was as he bathed in the feeling of serenity and swung gently back and forth on the swing. He took a deep breath and admitted, “Your parents are really nice. I thought they’d be a lot scarier and meaner.”

Chan chuckled as he looked down at his sneakers. “Yeah, they’re a lot more chill now than they used to be. When I first came out at the end of high school, they were shocked but, fortunately, they got over it after a couple of years. I’m lucky that my parents are fairly open-minded. Most Asian parents are so close-minded that they cut their children off if their children aren’t straight.” 

There was a beat of silence before Chan spoke again. “I know you don’t talk much about your family, but would you, but would you mind telling me a little bit about your family? It feels kinda weird that you’ve met my parents but I don’t know much about your family.” 

“Oh, yeah. Sure. Basically, my dad left my mom when I was really young. My mom had to work two jobs to provide for our family so she was never really around. I have an older sister but we’re not that close. She’s off doing her own thing now but we still talk every now and then.” Tony looked up at the clouds drifting peacefully across the sky and sighed. “I guess I just never really grew up with a lot of love in my life, y’know? I always thought I was undeserving of love and that I would never learn how to love and then I met you.” 

Tony glanced over at Chan and his lips curved upwards to form a grateful smile. “You’re the first person I’ve ever really fallen in love with and you’ve shown me what it’s like to feel worthy of love. Yesterday, having Thanksgiving dinner with your parents made me finally understand what the word “family” really means and what it feels like to be surrounded by love. Thank you.” 

Tony’s speech made tears form in Chan’s eyes and as Chan blinked away the tears that were moments away from spilling onto his cheeks, he said, “I love you so much. Thank you.” 

Chan knew that Tony meant every single word he said on the swings because, on the flight back to Colorado, Tony had sleepily asked, “Chan, can we come back to visit your parents again next year?” 

“Of course. We can come back as many times as you want,” Chan smiled before Tony cuddled up next to him and fell asleep. Soon, Chan also drifted off to sleep, finally feeling at peace.

**Author's Note:**

> pls leave a comment or a kudo on your way out!


End file.
